Toaru Majutsu no Index: New Testament

Volume 13, Afterword

If you bought each volume one by one, welcome back. If you bought them all at once, welcome.

This is Kamachi Kazuma.

Instead of someone tricky like St. Germain, this was a direct battle with the High Priest, a true Magic God. It doesn’t matter if he’s weakened and brought down to a trillionth of his power. I wrote the manuscript while aiming for a battle that overwhelms Kamijou from beginning to end.

I also explained why the Magic Gods of the true Gremlin were focused on Kamijou and what their goal was. In New Testament Volume 12, St. Germain said the Magic Gods envied Othinus, but that answer was fully revealed this time.

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If a magician is created to grant some wish, then a Magic God is what remains after the wish is granted.

If their Magic Name were entirely fulfilled, what would remain for them?

I moved this story along while thinking about that.

Also, Misaka Mikoto was an important part of this story.

She’s been with us since the very first volume, a lot of information has been presented along the way, and she has accumulated a number of emotions. Sometimes she is becoming aware of her romantic feelings, sometimes she is feeling the shock of being pushed away, and in New Testament 10, she gave Kamijou a pat on the back to see him on his way. But “right now”, what is she thinking, what is she worrying about, and what is she trying to overcome? My answer to that is Misaka Mikoto’s troubles here in New Testament 13.

How far can the title of Academy City’s #3 take her?

Has she perhaps fallen behind?

When words like magician and even Magic God are being used like normal, wouldn’t she feel the fear of possibly being left behind and not being able to walk alongside the person she longs for (and had thought she was courageously seeing on his way)?

And now that the hurdle had been set up, how will she overcome it? There are a number of options there. She could make sure Kamijou can do his best by giving him an everyday life to return to. She could decide everyone has fields they excel in and therefore support him only in the areas where her skills lie.

But given Mikoto’s nature, I want her to keep at it from head on. I want her to keep running after Kamijou’s back no matter how hopeless or reckless it seems.

It was those feelings that guided the direction of the story here. How did you like it?

I give my thanks to my illustrator Haimura-san and to my editors Miki-san, Onodera-san, and Anana-san. The key to this one was to see how much of a monster we could make the High Priest, so that probably put an even larger portion of the burden on the illustrations than usual. Thank you so much for sticking with me even when I made you go to all that effort.

I also give my thanks to the readers. I think a battle with a Magic God is less about a comparison of strength and more about seeing how insane they are, but what did you think? I’ll be glad as long as you felt like you really didn’t want to fight someone like that.

It is time to close the pages for now while praying that the pages of the next book will be opened.

And I lay my pen down for now

Raise your hand if you thought the fight against the Magic Gods would continue a lot longer than this!

-Kamachi Kazuma